Ameriquest: Servicing Best Practices

Ameriquest: Servicing Best Practices

Ameriquest Mortgage Company is one of the nation's oldest and largest home-equity lenders. We are proud of our history of making credit accessible to homeowners, helping customers gain a fresh financial start, realize a dream and make homeownership a reality.

To further these goals, Ameriquest has held extensive discussions with the Consumer Mortgage Education Consortium (CMEC)—a group that includes the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the National Fair Housing Alliance and the National Association of Neighborhoods—and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) as well as many other community organizations on how to expand the availability of mortgage credit to all markets and how to combat unfair mortgage lending practices.

To achieve these shared goals, Ameriquest is committed to the following Best Practices.

Servicing Best Practices

We service the loans we originate, so our relationship with our customer does not end when the loan is closed. Rather, a new and ongoing relationship begins. We are committed to responsible lending and provide the highest degree of quality and ethical service to our customers during the servicing relationship. In short, we strive to put the "service" back in loan servicing.

Ameriquest's servicing combines old-fashioned, person-to-person communication and modern technology. This unique approach allows us to understand and respond quickly to customer needs.

• Broad Home-Retention Strategies
• Immediate Processing Of Customer Payments
• Encouraging Customers To Use Escrow Accounts
• Services That Are Geared Toward Customer Satisfaction And Convenience
• Fair Collection Practices
• Reporting Of Customer Payment Histories To Credit Bureaus
• Free Consumer Credit Counseling
• Resolving Customer Concerns Is A Top Priority
• Many Services We Offer Our Customers Are Free
• New Customers Receive A Welcome Call Before Their First Payment Is Due
• Lender-Placed Insurance Is A Last Resort
• Tracking Quality Is A Cornerstone To Delivering Unparalleled Customer Service
• Caring About The Communities We Serve
• Training Is The Foundation To Quality Customer Service

Origination Best Practices

We believe consumers should (1) receive clear and timely disclosures of the terms of a proposed loan and their options; (2) have adequate time to evaluate and negotiate those terms; and (3) have the ability to obtain the advice of independent advisors as to whether the loan is one they should accept.

• Providing Customers A Copy Of Their Credit Report
• Clear And Timely Disclosure Of Loan Terms And Conditions
• Determining Whether The Customer Has The Ability To Repay Our Loan
• Providing Customers Adequate Time To Evaluate The Final, Written Loan Terms—A One-Week Cancellation Period
• Prohibited Practices—Balloon Payments, Negative Amortization And Mandatory Arbitration Clauses; Single Premium Credit Life Insurance Policies
• Reasonable Points And Fees
• Risk-Based Pricing
• Marketing
• Refinancing Of Existing Customers—Flipping Is Prohibited
• Property Valuation
• Consumer Mortgage Education And Outreach

Ameriquest was one of two lenders invited to participate in Freddie Mac's Don't Borrow Trouble consumer-awareness program. We continue to participate in events sponsored by this program across the country to help educate the public about the mortgage process and steps they can take to protect themselves from predatory lending.

We partner with various organizations to offer rescue programs to victims of predatory lending. Ameriquest is also working on programs supporting first-time home buyers in achieving the American dream.